Coin changer



L. F. HEHN COIN CHANGER Oct. 1'3, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed NOV. l,1947 Oct. 13, 1953 L. F. HEHN 2,655,243

COIN CHANGER Filed Nov. l, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 L. F. HEHN COIN CHANGEROct. 13, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 1, 1947 /7-7z/9771/07f! louisZY/Velez? Oct. 13, 1953 L, F, HEHN 2,655,243

l coIN CHANGER Filed Nov. 1, 1947 5 sheets-sheet 4 Oct. 13, 1953 L. F.HEHN 2,655,243

com CHANGER Filed Nov. 1. 1947 5 sheets-sheet s Patented Oct. 13, 1953UNITED 90.15. Umwege .than one denomination and .which nequirede- .5

liveries of proper amountsbfchange inreturnffor certain of such coins.A..V.endin g machine .of this type, -for example, may beoriearrangedtovend a ve-.cent -item .of merchandise upon the vinsertion of either :anickel, .dime `or quarter, the 211.0 correct value in .changebeingreturned. tov the .purchaser iwth .the .delivery .of merchandisewhen a `dime or quarter hasiheenmeceivedzby (the maychine.

Coin changers of earlier constructionasuitable -for use with merchandise:Vending machines of fthe character .described'ihave,'-.=in .all.instances ,of which I am aware, utilizedinfonefway.onanother theinertia of falling Acoins:to,actuate'flew/ ers or switches tomechanically .ori.electricallmmotiyate p' .a mechanismforcausingithecontrolleddischarge -of a numberof .coins as change.ittlwill 4readily .be understood that .particularly when .theactuaf tionof such levers andswitcheseisdependent upon the inertia .of'elight.weghtcoins 'suches vUnited States*dimessaidlevers or switches must ybehighly sensitive. "fTo-provideithe requiredsenf- .sitivity coin changersofqprionccnstruction.have :had incorporated therein delicate .electricalswitches or mechanical -parts -whichnin addition to requiring frequent..adjustment, :have a much shorter service life .than the`:vending=.ma.chines with which fthey .are associated'. To .overcomethese difficulties 'ihave devisedzfthe present *rcoin changer, animportant vobject f.which-1ist .pro- 4.g5 vide amechanical.anddependablemeansforgposie tively moving la coin toactuateone .or more strong and durableelectricswitchesandltothereby4cause nthe quick deli-ve of proper i nadeln-ber oi small coinsaschange. -Y

Another obj-ooteof myiilrontion tls. @to Previo? info dovioo of .thistynomoeoo ferent. motloolly replenishing and.bcontrrf'ollin'gamsup1-il5`f.of small coins as change fork coins orma Afurther object of my inve n y an adjustable means having aminixnumeffftional vdrag -for causing: the-.lischarge of small. coins individuallyist. supply container. v

A Stillfurohor obiootfotmninvontionfis toelage Vido inSuohofooiniohongor mansion coins for -which'change-ha u A OtherobJootSf-:oodfooreotosesnfitlio mention will no :oleo-trimming tiltsiollowiaeflesoritioo ioogo n.1-, .ossgeor to ratei.

ings, -in which:

Fig. 1 is a, front .elevational .view of a coin .changer embodying -myinvention Fig. 2 4is A,a .side view .of .the same, .viewed'from .theleftof Fig. `1;

Fig. 3. isa sectional -view ofthe device taken .on line 3.-3 yof Fig..1;

Fig. l fis fa vback viewof said; changer;

Fig. :5is atopiview of thesame;

Fig. :Gis a .fragmentary .sectional yview ltaken on Eline :li-a' in Eig2. to. 1more, fully illustrate the mechanism for delivering .small coinsras change;

Fig. .7 isa sectional .viewftak'en substantially on line Slz-J'iinFigg-lr; .and 1 Fig. ,f8 v=isa fragmentary sectional View .taken o-n.line iii-f8 vin Fig. 2`.to..s.how,v infirther detail .the smallcoindeliverygmechanis'm.

-In the embodimentof.theinvention .thus illustrated..a baseplateHis-.provided as amountfor `theyarious parts .of the .device .to .bevhereinafter described. Said :base `.plate may have' mounting .iiangeslz.formed .thereon `in-Lwhich mounting `:holes il 3.fhaving rubbergrommets .I 4 therein may fbe l.provided to receive mounting .bolts (not(shown)- Attached tothe Afaceozfithe .base plate by means of bolts l5and spacers I6 is a block L1 .of `hard .dielectric brous materialv beingex- `ternally :shaped .in a generally. circular forrn. ALcircular.cavity.shown generallyatl in Fig. 1 is .provided inithecentral-portion.of1the-.block- In Ttheupper portion of said-.block arefrmedthree yertically .disposedlparallel coin chutes l.9,20 and s2 I.(Seell'igs. .3,:5zand J7.) .Ghuteslfafor example, mayibe of .lapropergsize to lreceiveU. S. nickels, ,chute mtofreceive Ui..S..`dimes,and chuteZl to `receiyeu quarters. -'Each of said chiites ei- .tends-downwardly from the top`of"the blockto the upper. inner surface .ofethecavity il 8 (Figs. 1, .3;and1l7.) "i

.Within v.the l.cavity-.a kcircular Y,member 2-2 is mounted-.upon.avrotatablef shaft V23 which Vextends through saidmember andrides inahub Mformed `onlthe Area-ruside'f the-baseplate'flll and in avbracketiZAzt. attached to theibackside'o'f said plate.

Saidolmemberis alsofof aiihard 'dielectric fibrous material and? .may besecured' lto' the shaft by meanskoffa screw ZSLthr-ea'de'dointo the'endof said shaft. Semicircular receptacles l25, 21" and2`8 are for'medlsideibyl sidein-theperiphery of member 22;' .when saiomemezis inns'normerinactive position,.as illstratedin-Figs. l, -3 and 7, receptacle.zfislpositionedt direotlylbelow chute Vl andsa-rrangedlto .receive-acoin when the same f is Y Passed thrQllghiadhute. Similarly receptacleand '1.)

entame 3 21 will receive coins from chute 20 and receptacle 2B willreceive coins from chute 2 I.

An electric motor shown generally at 29 is mounted to the base plate Ilby means of a bracket 30 and screws 3|. Said motor may be of a wellknown two pole induction type having the usual field winding 32,laminated stator 33, flux dampening rings 34, and a rotor shaft 35 (Fig.4). On the extremity of said shaft is a worm gear 36 which drives acircular gear 31 xedly` mounted upon a shaft 38 which rotates inabracket 39 attached to the base plate II (Figs. l, 3, 4 and 5) andextends through the forward side of said plate.

4I of larger size ixedly mounted upon the shaft 23 to rotate the member22 in *a clockwise direc-Y tion as viewed in Fig. 1.

Within the cavity I8 Va semi-circular strip 42I of brass or otherelectrically conductive material is fixedly mounted circumjacent themember 22 and extends along a portion of the circumference of the latter(Figs. 1 and 1). `Holes 43 are provided in the strip 42 and rollers 44,`45, 4=6 and 41 are rotatably mounted upon springs 4B which are attachedto the outer Surface of said strip, as for example, by rivets 49. Saidsprings are arranged so that the rollers retractably protrude throughthe holes 43 (Figs. l and '1). The roller 44 is of a width andpositioned so as to intersect the planes of the receptacles 21 and 28.The rollers 45, 46 and 41 are so positioned as to intersect only theplane of receptacle 2B.

Outside the outer circumference of the strip 42 another strip 40 ofsubstantially equal length and similar material is Xedly mounted as bybrackets I within the cavity I8. Attached to the outer surface of saidstrip 50 are springs 52, the extremities of which are provided withcontact buttons 53 which are arranged to protrude inwardly through holes54 (Fig. '1) in the strip 50 opposite buttons 55 provided on the freeends of springs 48. It will be understood that when any one of therollers 44, 45, 46 and 41 are moved outwardly, contact will be madebetween the corresponding buttons 53 and 55. (See Fig. 1.)

Attached to the rear side of the upper portion of the block l1, as by apivot screw 56, is a pivot `arm 51 which has on its lower end a iinger58 which extends into the cavity I8 across the lower openings of thechutes |9, and 2| and above the receptacles 26, 21 and 28 when thelatter are in their normal inactive positions. (See Figs. 1 When a coinis dropped through any one of said chutes said coin will move the linger58 to the left (as viewed in Fig. l) to cause the arm 51 to pivot on thescrew 56 and raise, a pin Y59r which is iixed horizontally to the upperend of said arm. The pin 59 in turn raises a spring leaf 60 to move apad 6| thereon upwardly and thus close contacts 62 and 63 of a switchshown gen!- erally at 64 which may be mounted to the base plate II as bya bracket 65. The arm 51 will be lheld in its pivoted position, andconsequently the switch 64 will be closed, until a coin held by any oneof the receptacles 26, 21 and 28 has been moved in a clockwise directionby the rotation of the member 22.

A cam 66 is fixedly mounted upon the shaft 23 to the rear of the hub24and is arranged to move a spring leaf 61 immediately after said shaftand the member 22 have started to rotate. The leaf 61 has a pad 68thereon which closes contacts 69 and 10 of a switch shown generally at1| and On the front side of the plate a gear 40 mounted upon the shaft38 drives a gearV 4 mounted upon the rear side of base plate l I as bya. bracket 12.

A solenoid shown generally at 13 may be mounted upon the base plate II,by means of screws 14 and spacers 15 (Figs. 2 and 4.), in a manner sothat armature 16 of said solenoid may reciprocate vertically. On theupper end of the armature a berbrake-shoe 11 may be arranged to beforced, by'a compression spring 19, against a brake-drum 18 mounted uponthe rotor shaft 35 of the electric motor 29. When the solenoid 1 3 isenergized, the action of said solenoid will overcome the action of thespring and cause the Y brake-shoeV to move downwardly away from saidbrake-drum.

s Extending from'the lower left side of the cavity 4I8, as viewed inFig. ,1, are diagonal coin passages (not shown) which pass through theside oi block I1. One of these passages is in a plane with thereceptacle 26 and communicates with a diagonally disposed closed coinchute shown generally at 80. The chute leads downwardly to the top of avertical coin tube 8| within which coins suitable for change may bestacked one upon another. Said tube may be provided with a flaredfunnel-like ring 82 at its upper end and may also be provided withobservation ports 83 through which the level of coins in the tube may beobserved. Said tube is supported at its base by a steel block 84 whichis attached to the base plate II by means of bolts 85 and nuts 86. A

Vcoin passage 81, slightly larger in diameter than the diameter of thecoins to be used as change, extends downwardly from the base of the tube8| through the block 84.

Below this passage is a table 88 which may be formed as an integral partof the block 84 and upon which theV lowermost of the coins contained bythe tube 8| will rest (Fig. 2).

A bracket 89 is attached to the rear portion of the lower surface of theblock 84 by means of screws 90 (Figs. 2 and 6). A horizontally projectngmember 9| extends from said bracket and an adjustable bearing screw 92is threaded vertically through said member and provided with a lock-nut93. Supported upon the upper tapered end of the screw 92 is a verticalshaft 94 which passes through the block 84. On the rupper end of saidshaft is iixed a collar 95 from rwhich a linger 96 extends horizontally.A vertically disposed pin 91 is fixed upon the extremity of 'said fingerand is operatively engaged by a slot 98 Vin a bracket 99 which is fixedto an armature |00 of a solenoid shown generally at |0I. (See Figs. 2, 6and 8.) A coil spring |02 has one of its ends attached to the upperportion of the pin 91 and its other end to a bracket |03 which maybeattached to the base plate i I in any suitable manner. vThe spring tendsto rotate the fin-V ger 96 and the shaft 94 in a-clockwise direction (asviewed in Fig. 6) Vand a stop |04 fixed to the Yupper surface'of theblock 84 limits the rotation in said direction. 'Activation of thesolenoid I6! causes, the fingerfand the shaft 94 to rotate in theopposite direction; lThe solenoid may be attached to thebase plateII asby means of a of the strip, whereupon it will enter the coin chute 80,normally roll downwardly therethrough, and drop into the coin tube 8l.In the event that the tube 8l is already full of coins, the nickel willfall from the chute 80 through the opening 122 and be delivered, forexample, to the cash box (not shown) through hopper 131 and the chute|32. After said nickel has rolled from said receptacle 26 into the chute80, the member 22 will complete its rotation whereupon the cam B6 willcause the contacts of switch 1| to open thereby stopping the motor 29and simultaneously deenergizing the solenoid, thus allowing thebrakeshoe 11 to be applied to the brake-drum 18 to prevent member 22from coasting past its proper inactive position.

The insertion of a dime or quarter into the machine will cause a similaraction by the mechanism. The dime will drop through the coin chute 20into the receptacle 21 and thereby move the finger 58 to energize themotor 29 and solenoid 13 and cause the member 22 to begin its rotation.A quarter dropped into the chute 2l will fall into the receptacle 28 andsimilarly cause said member 22 to start its rotation. The member 22, byits positive mechanically induced rotation, will carry the dime or thequarter in a circular path along the strip 42. The dime will come intocontact and raise only the roller 4d. The movement of said roller willcause the contact buttons 50 and 53 to meet and thus momentarilyenergize the solenoid lili to operate the coin discharge plate |06 andcause the ejection of one nickel from the coin tube 8 i. The quarter, onthe other hand, will sequentially come into contact with rollers 44, 45,45 and 41, move each of them one by one, and cause the correspondingbutt-ons B and 53 to meet one after the other. The sequential andmomentary meeting of said buttons will actuatc the solenoid 10i fourtimes to cause the coin discharge plate to pay out four nickels aschange for the quarter.

Inasmuch as the buttons 50 and 53 are indirectly caused to contact eachother by the positive mechanically induced rotation of the member 22,the energy available for moving said buttons is far greater than wouldbe the case if such contact were caused by the inertia of a fallingcoin. The springs 48 and 52, upon which the buttons are supported in mycoin changer, may therefore be of a heavy and rugged construction with aservice life greatly in excess of the life of known electric switches ormechanical devices which have the sensitivity required for use inchangers which depend for their action upon the inertia of fallingcoins. As hereinbefore stated, the strong and durable but yetinexpensive construction of my coin changer is one of the importantobjects of my invention.

When the aforesaid dime or quarter has been carried to the end of thestrip 42, the coin will roll from its receptacle and enter the coinchute 133. The member 22 will complete its rotation and be stopped in aproper position in the manner described above. Said dime or quarter willroll down the chute 133 and drop into one of the four divided spacesbetween the transparent disk 43 and the stationary disk I4I. The ratioof the gears 131, L35 and |34 may be such'that the disk 143 will makeone complete revolution in a clockwise direction for each fourrevolutions of member 22. Coins which fall into the space between saiddisks will be carried with the movement of the disk 143 and will besupported during said movement by the shaft |38, the rivets |44. and/orthe ange 142. The disk |43 may be visible to the customer or operator ofthe vending machine with which my coin changer may be associated, andthe display of coins behind said disk will add to the attractiveness ofsaid machine.

When any coin which has entered the space between the disks has beencarried approximately 270 degrees in 'a clockwise direction, said coinwill roll from said space and pass down the chute 132 to the cash box ina path indicated by the broken outline of coins in Fig. l.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly aspermissible in View of the prior'art. Y

I claim:

1. A coin changer comprising: intermittently rotatable coin receptacles,each being adapted to receive a coin of a different denomination; powermeans for rotating said receptacles to carry said coins one at a timethrough circular paths; means actuated by the coin passing into saidreceptacle for energizing said last-mentioned means; electric switchesdisposed contiguously to each of said paths in number corresponding tothe denomination of said coins carried therethrough whereby saidswitches will be individually actuated upon being contacted by saidcoins; a change supply container; and a coin dispensing means associatedwith said container and operated by the actuation of said switches forejecting change from the container each time any one of said switches isactuated.

2. A coin changer comprising: a rotatable coin receptacle for receivinga coin to be changed; an electric motor in operative relation with saidreceptacle for rotating the latter whereby said coin will be moved in acircular path; a switch closed by the initial presence of said coin insaid receptacle for energizing said motor; a cam rotatably associatedwith said receptacle; a second switch actuated by said cam forde-energizing said motor when said receptacle has completed onerevolution; a brake arranged to stop the rotation of said receptacleupon the de-energization of said motor; a solenoid in the motor circuitfor controlling the application of said brake; a third switch disposedcontiguously to said path whereby said coin in passing said latterswitch will actuate the same; a supply container for change; and a coindispensing means associated with said container and operated by theactuation of said third switch for ejecting change from the latter eachtime said third switch is actuated.

3. A combination dispenser control device and coin changer comprising: amovable coin carrier having a pocket therein for a coin of the valuerequired for operation of the dispenser and a pocket for a coin ofhigher value; power means for actuating said carrier upon and as aresult of insertion of a coin in any pocket thereof; an electric switchincluding a movable element in the Ipath of the coin in saidrst-mentioned pocket and operable by pressure thereof against saidelement; means operable by actuation of said switch for operating thedispenser; a plurality of additional switches each including a movableelement in the path of the coin in said secondmentioned pocket andoperable by pressure thereof against said element, saiddispenser-operating means being operable by actuation of one of saidejecting mechanism operable by actuation of one or more others of saidadditional switches for ejecting a coin or coins from said containerequal in value to the excess value of the coin in said second-mentionedpocket over the value of the coin required for operation of saiddispenser.

4. A combination dispenser control device and coin changer comprising: amovable coin carrier having a pocket therein for a coin of the valuerequired for operation of the dispenser and a pocket for a coin ofhigher value; power means for actuating said carried upon and as aresult of insertion of a coin in any pocket thereof; an electric switchincluding a movable element in the path of the coin in saidfirst-mentioned pocket and operable by pressure thereof against saidelement; means operable by actuation of said switch for operating thedispenser; a plurality of additional switches each including a movableelement in the ypath of the coin in said secondmentioned pocket andoperable by pressure thereof against said element, saiddispenser-operating means being operable by actuation of one of saidswitches; each of said switches including a movable contact-carryingelement a part of which lies in the path of the coin for actuating thesame, a rugged spring arm on which said element is carried, acooperating contact against which the contact on said movable element ispressed by pressure exerted by movement of said coin upon operativemovement of said carrier, and a rugged spring arm on which saidcooperating contact is carried; a change container; and achange-ejecting mechanism operable by actua- 10 tion of one or moreothers of said additional switches for ejecting a coin or coins fromsaid container equal in value to the excess value of the coin in saidsecond-mentioned pocket over the value of the coin required foroperation of said dispenser,

LOUIS F. HEI-11N.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 525,692 Cecchi Sept. 11, 1894 812,160 Wilkes Feb. 6, 1906812,758 Libby Feb. 13, 1906 1,721,441 Forney July 16, 1929 1,839,841 FryJan. 5, 1932 1,847,984 Ruff Mar. 1, 1932 2,147,954 Kozel et al Feb. 21,1939 2,250,051 Patzer July 22, 1941 2,276,449 Andres Mar. 17, 19422,292,965 Osborne Aug. 11, 1942 2,309,873 Lay Feb. 2, 1943 2,354,896Weiler Aug. 1, 1944 2,406,948 I-Ioiman et al Sept. 3, 1946 2,433,689 FryDec. 30, 1947 2,491,900 Mihalek Dec. 20, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 227,221 Great Britain Jan. 15, 1925 684,975 France July 3,1930

